Process of treating roads, &amp;c.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. JACOB s. a'o'aason, or no sum rents, newroux. ranches or 'rnnsrrm soars, &a.

1 69,029. No Drawing.

Patented July29, 191a.

To all whom it'may con/cm:

Be it known that I, JACOBS. l'tonnson, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of Au Sable Forks, Essexcounty, New York,

5 have \invented an Improved Process of- Treating Roads, &c., of whichthe-follow ing is a specification.

The. object of my invention -is to provide means for preventing orretarding the for- 0 mation ofdust upon roadways, and a further obj ectmy invention is to efiect the formation 0 a road or 'roadsurface'. Manyattempts have been made to accomplish this result by the use of variousliquids, but in the main while they have tended to improve the surfacebykeep'ing the same in a more compact and wear-resisting condition; theyhave not prevented the formation of dust after the initial applicationof the surfacing material, nor have they. maintained the propercoherence bet-ween the surface of the road and the body or bed of thesame. Practically their only purpose, and result, was to compactthesurface layer by pro- 25 ducing a simple liquid adhesionbetween the dustor sand particles.

The, material which'I kpropose-to'use as a road-surfacing and roa makingagent is slightly hygroscopic in its nature; its hycientrto keep t eroad In a dustless condltion as long as any of the original material isleft, and it has the further propertyof producing a profound andadvantageous change in. the physical relation in and of the solidparticles of the road surface.

In the manufacture of paper pulp under what is known as the sulfiteprocess,

which" consists in boiling wood and other fibers under pressure in asolution cont-aim ing' 'sulfurous acid and a base (or bases) such aslime or magnesia, (or .lini'eand rnagnesia) a vast quantity of a waterymixture known as sulfite waste li 5 fite of cellulose liquor isproduced, that hitherto has had little value, besides being' highlyobjectionable ina of ways and 'very diflicult 'of disposal, In, thepatent granted to me October 15, 1906,11'0. 833,634, so a process-oftreating such'waste liquor for the purpose of recovering the greaterportion of the colloidal matter, as well as all,

of the containedresins, gums, and other ex-- tracted constituents of thewoody tissues, '55 and the product of such process are fully describedand claimed. The material which as such dissolved in the liquid, it hastangroscopic pro ert-y being substantially .suflii pm ti g. nd i imanymespects,

.tion and the mannerof a lioa'tion to,- the or or waste su'l-f I employas themean'sof surfacing or 'buildmg roads is said product,a-concen'trated body made in accordance with the patented fro-mwa-st'esulfite liquor. Such materialcontains the natural organic constituentsof the original sulfi'te liquor in a substantially undecomposed stateand retaining all of'their pro erties which I have found to be "valuableor the present pur-' 5 pose, while it does not have the tendency toundergo spontaneous chemical changes character zing the original thin-sulfite liquor, even on redilution.

The material produced in accordance with :my process set forth in theabove named patent is ardark liquid mass, having usually been evaporatedto quite a thick consistency, is soluble in water, and in additiontocon= taming ih-a substantially unaltered state all of the resins, andother extractive matters of the wood, it carries some lime, and certainproportions of salts of sulfuric and sulfur'ous'acid. Most of the ligninof the original wood is contained in this liquid as a soluble-bodycontaining the lignin and S laaunited with lime or other base a formabompcund usually termed a lignosul fonate Whether or no there betannioacid analogous to tannin soli'itions. This concentrated materialispreferably diluted somewhat before use, the amount :of dilureaddepending very large ;upon the char-. actor of the latter. Theapplication maybe in any of the ordinary ways as by 'sprinkling,"ctc.If, for instance, 15b8, a maca'dam road witha-hard surface, it isadvisable. to make the mixture water relatively: thick, say using sixgyfper cent.

of the concentrated liquor an rtyper cent. of, water. the amount of duston the road increases, so must the amount of water increase, so thatupon an ordinary. dirt road composed of the local soil, which alwayscontains more or less clay the best proportions are twenty-five percent. of the concentrated liquor and seventy-fiveper cent. of water.

So far as my present experience has shown, the-best results are-obtainedwhen about three-tenths of a gallon of the'poncentrated liquor isapplle'd to one square yard of road surface, although it is possiblethat further experience will show this amount to be excessive fora hardroad surface and perhaps, deficient for a soft road, and the bestproportions range from onetenth to five-tenths of a gallon of theconcentrated material, to a square yard of road surface. c

On track work, speedways, &c., having a relatively springy body andsurface, the method of preparing the surface binding material orapplying the same, is somewhat different, a methodical treatmentbeingadvisable. In 'the first application, the mixture should be very thin soas to insure good penetration while the last application should be of athicker nature so as to make a thicker impregnation in the coating orsurface on the top.

There seems to be some physical or chemical'changein the material of theroads surface afterthe concentrated sulfite liquor has been. applied tothe same, and though this must be different with the different roadsurfaces it appears to be invariably advantageous. The concentratedmaterralwhen applied to the road surface is usually neutral, or perhapsslightl basic, but whether it be on a stone roa or a dirt road, itslowly becomes acid by absorption from the air, the rain, the water withwhich it was mixed, and the acids present in the soil.

There is a slight deposit of sulfate of lime and. the substancecontained in the concentrated liquor, have an effect upon the physical.character of the soil, making it more lastic and adhesive. While this isprobably ustas true of a stone'road as it is of a dirt road, naturally,by reason of the greater density of the stone roads surface, and thegreater size ofthe particles the peculiar action is slower'and theprimary noticeable results on a stone road are possibly mainly due tothe adhesive character of centrated material. r I am aware of the use ofoil as a means of laying the dustu on roads, and while oil is relativelyeffective for this purpose it is the connot in any sense a road maker,as distinguished from a road preventive since it simply damps the dustand keeps it from rising, but does not retain it or cause it to adhereto the rest of the dirt or soil and pack into the road surface properly.Nor

does it have any chemical or physical effect on th .fine mineral matterof the road surface, acting mainly by virtue of its liquidity and theproduction of liquid adhesion when bind them into the road surface orfill the voids of the same and the wheels of vehicles clods of thecohering dust' or heavier part cles and move them alongthe road surface.

The concentrated sulfite liquor which I use as a dust preventive androad builder acts in a manner quite different from oil applied for thesame purpose. Aside from its speclfic action, (either chemical orphysical, or, perhaps, both) upon loose dusty particles, when firstapplied it causes the loose dust particles on the road surface to cohereand remain in the position where they were caught by the liquid applied.Any passing load, as of a' wheel or a roller while these particles areinitially damp orat any time whenthey may have become damp at somelaterperiod by reason .of dew or rain, forces them into the crevices ofthe road surface I and places them back where they originally belongedor 'puts them into voids caused by friction and makesthem act again .asthey did when the road surface was-absolutely new, viz.,' as bindersbetween the stones forming the surface and body of the road", thuscompleting the arch and insur- A ing its solidity.

When the applied concentrated material strikes a road surface that is.relatively free from dust it penetrates the same to a greater or lessdegree and by reason of its adhesive action holds the finer particlesin. their proper places, as well as changes their nature in some manner.When dust is formed by friction, it retains this dust and enables it tob packed into the voids thatform from time to time. While this result isperhaps more true with reference to a stone'road' .of the ordinary soilof the vicinity or of a loose road surface, and my experience has shownthat a loose road surface treated with the concentrated sulfite liquorfinally becomes hardand solid. The original thin sulfite waste liquor asit comes from the digester is much less suitable, as it is quitesensitive to atmospheric and other influences, readily decomposing.After-concen-- tration in the manner described in the acknowledgedpatent, however, the liquor loses much of this sensitiveness, even onredilution.. l

From the foregoin it will be evident that the concentrate sulfite liquoris a highly v r ble material as a road-maker, and by reason of thisvalue and the fact that it is of such a nature as to extract moisturefrom the atmosphere it acts as a perfect reasonable to' expect some lossdue to heavy 40 dered ro'ck, gravel and other road building sulfiteliquor. For instance a road of the.

rains. In practice, however, it seems to stand considerable wettingbefore losing its virtue of uniting-the particles ofdirt and dustforming the top surface of the road.

With a view, however, of obviating any tendency of the concentratedsulfite liquor "to wash out under the influence of heavy rains I matreat the road prepared with the sulfite liquor with a thin film orsurface coating of oil. Thisis. best accomplished by spreading the sameupon the road with compressed, air after the concentrated sulfite liquorhas been applied, and permanent and good'results can be obtained withthe use of a drying oil. Any of the common oils maybe employed as an'oily' surfacing material, however, and petroleum is not only suitablebut preferable on account of its relative cheapness. This petroleum mayhave an asphalt base,-either naturally contained, as in thev case ofCalifornia and some'Texas oils, or artificially added, as in the case ofadmixtures of asphalt with Pennsylvania .and like oils. There are anumber of other ways of constructing a road with the use of theconcentrated waste ordinary character as to the sub-grade may have.placed upon;- the top asa wearing course, a layer severaliinches deep,say, approximately six inches in thickness, of

mineral roadmaterial mixed-with concern tratedsulfite liquor, in theproportion of about 'three .(;3) to eight (8) gallons'of concentratedsulfite liquor tothe cubic yard. By admixing sulfite liquor with theroad ,material, impregnation may be secured to a depth very sustantially, greater than can be attained w ith a surface application.The liquor may also be mixed with earth, powmaterials in this and otherproportions. So far as pro or-tions of materialgo, it iscertain, thatetter and more lasting results- 'willbe. attained with the concentratedsu1-.

fite liquor in relatively large proportions.

Commercially, however, the proportions for the different-roads .must bedetermined by experiment, as-it is certain that hard roads,

such as Telford and macadam, do not require so much as soft dirt roads,as 'I have noted, while on the other hand tracks, speedways, etc.,require'a method of treat? ment entirely different from either stone, orsoft dirt roads.

Concentrated sulfite'waste liquor of the character described has apeculiar action upon finely powdered mineral matter such as forms thesurface of all ordinary un-' paved roadways. As to the nature of thisactio'n'I am atpresent unaware, and it may be either chemical orhysical, or, more probably, both; the action being perhaps similar tothat which tannin exercises upon clay and similar fine mineral mattersof a more or less colloid nature, the colloid matters of such sulfitewaste liquor resembling tannin in many other respects. At allevents-,when applied to a-roadwa containing greater or less proportionso fine mineral matter of a clayey nature, or of mate rials tending toyield clay, as is the case with all dirt roads (roads made from localsoil), it affects the plasticity of the surface materials and changestheir character .in some manner so that thesurface does not dust freelyand dries downin' a hard compact way; so that it becomes, so to speak, 1of. a more or less horny nature. This efiect ,is particularly noticeableupon dirt roads I containing large amounts of clay or learn. With astone roadcontainingdess dust and 'dirt the action is slower; but stillexists;

and particularly with road materials tending'to yield clay. uponbreaking down by physical or chemical action.

I claim:

1. The method of treating roads and road surfaces containing clay orclay yielding materials to compact the" same and retardand substantiallyprevent the formation of dust which comprises coating or sprinklingroadways comprising such materials with a somewhat diluted solution of'aconcentrated and chemically undecomposed body of neutralized sulfitewaste liquor.

2. The method of treating roads and road surfaces comprising clay or'clay-yielding 4. The method of treating roads and road surfacescomprising clay or clay-yielding materialsto compact the same and retardand substantially prevent the formation of dust,

which consists in treating such roads and 3 road surfaces by coating,sprinkling or otherwise applying to the same and to the materialcomposing the same a somewhat diluted solution of a concentrated andchemically undecomposed body of neutralized sulfite waste liquor.-

5., A road comprising clay or clay-yielding materials and having itssurface coated or sprinkled with a diluted solution of a. mixturecomprising a concentrated and chemically undecomposed bodyof sulfitewaste liquor. 6. A road comprising clay or clay-yielding materials andhaving its surface coated or sprinkled with a body of concentratedsulfite waste liquor.

7. A road comprising clay or clayyielding materials and having'itssurface coated or sprinkled with a body of concentrated and chemicallyundecomposed sulfite waste liquor.

8. A road comprising clay or'clay-yielding materials and having itssurface coated and its body impregnated with a dilute solution of a bodycomprising amass of con-' cent-rated and chemically'undecomposed sulfitewaste liquor.

9. In\the production of a hard,.compact taining organic matters of aconcentrated sulfite waste liquor substantially throughout the wearingcourse of said bed and sub stantially sealing the surface portionthereof against moisture.

11. The process; of making roads which comprises treating'a road surfacecontain-' ing clayey matter with a concentrated waste sulfite liquor"preparation and thereafter applying. 011. A

12. The process of making roads which comprisestreating a road surfacecontainin clayey matter with a concentrated waste su taliquorpreparation in a dilutedstatia and thereafter applying oil.

13. The process of makmg roads whichcomprises treating a road surfacecontains ingclayey matter with a concentrated waste sulfiteliquorpreparation and. thereafter applyingnoil containing an asphaltic-base.

14. As a .newartlclejof manufacture, a

roadwa containing clayey matter having its sur ace particles impregnatedW1tll,- altered by and united by a concentrated waste sulfite liquorpreparation and having an 'oil seal for said altered and unitedparticles.

15, In the production of a hard, coin act and permanent roadway themethod ,w ich comprises incorporating with road materials comprisingclay or clay-yielding materials a composition comprislng' thecharacteristic sulfur containing organic matters of a concentratedsulfite waste liquor, said or'- ganic matters being in a substantiallyundecomposed condition.

16, A compacted, hardened and permanent road eomprising'elay orclay-yielding materials and also comprising, the charac teristic sulfurcontaining organic matters of a concentrated waste sulfite liquor;

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of vtwo I subscribing witnesses.

., moons. noBEso

